(a) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an assembly for teaching the game of contract bridge. More particularly, the present invention relates to a teaching aid designed to help people learn the game of contract bridge by sequentially revealing the four hands of bridge from the dealer's hand to and including the right side opponent's hand and representing them on an image reproducing surface, such as by means of an overhead projector and a free standing floor or wall screen.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
The standard method of teaching the game of bridge is to reproduce hands of bridge either on a black board or a table and discuss the bidding sequence that should normally take place. This method may also be used to illustrate the play of the cards and to teach the various conventions that are available to facilitate the game of contract bridge.
The disadvantage of such a system is that there is no permanent reproduction of the bidding sequence as it normally takes place, i.e. as each hand is sequentially revealed. In addition, discussion of the play as it could or should take place is somewhat awkward with the above methods. Also, the number of students who can actively participate is very limited.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,233,340 discloses a teaching and game machine that can be adapted to the game of contract bridge. However, the machine is strictly a mechanical contraption which does not easily lend itself to teach a group of students. Other references of interest in connection with the teaching of the game of bridge include the following patents:
______________________________________ Canada 467,995 Great Britain 348,685 United States 1,961,014 2,199,497 3,863,362 4,190,253 ______________________________________
To my knowledge, there is no device to enable a teacher to follow the normal bidding sequence and play of the game associated with a discussion with students which is adaptable to an infinite number of predetermined hands of bridge.